Japanese, Philippine lawmakers vow maritime cooperation

A group of Japanese and Philippine lawmakers have agreed to promote
peaceful solutions to deal with sea disputes in Asia on the basis of
international law.

Six Japanese and 13 Philippine legislators on
September 3 signed a joint document for cooperation on the promotion of
law at sea, in which both sides will encourage members of their
respective parliaments to join efforts to establish a parliamentarians’
league for maritime security in Asia, aiming at protecting and promoting
maritime order based on international law.

They recognised that
at sea, states should make and clarify their claims based on
international law, not use force or coercion in pursuing their claims,
and settle disputes by peaceful means and avoid any unilateral attempts
to change the status quo through force or coercion, the document said.

The states should also strengthen cooperation based on the common recognition, it added.-VNA